


honeybee to atrophy

by azareth



Category: Castlevania (Cartoon), 悪魔城ドラキュラ | Castlevania Series
Genre: Angst, Complete, Heartbreak, Hopeful Ending, Loneliness, M/M, Post-Canon Fix-It
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-30
Updated: 2021-02-21
Packaged: 2021-03-11 00:40:30
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 8
Words: 7,312
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28436274
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/azareth/pseuds/azareth
Summary: After Taka and Sumi, Alucard tries to move on.cw: se. 3 spoilers, canon-typical gore, angst.
Relationships: Alucard | Adrian Tepes | Arikado Genya/Sumi/Taka, Alucard | Adrian Tepes | Arikado Genya/Trevor Belmont
Comments: 16
Kudos: 88





	1. Chapter 1

He doesn't hate them. Not in the least. Taka and Sumi came to Alucard at a time when he was vulnerable – the most vulnerable he’s been in too long. He gets that, deeply.

They took advantage of him, his vulnerability, his foolish, human want for a morsel of connection. But it’s their corpses that decorate his front yard, not his own. He doesn’t hate them, but he keeps their impaled bodies there as a reminder.

A reminder that he is still vulnerable. A reminder never to trust easily again. A reminder that their reasons for tricking him, countless years of hardships at the hands of vampires, is the same reason he will never walk freely among humans.

He doesn’t hate them, but some nights, many nights, he wishes things were different. Wishes they were still here with him, alive, without hatred in their hearts. Wishes he could love…

It no longer matters.

Time passes without his notice. The days are the same, long as the nights. He thinks about getting a coffin again. He comes close to fashioning himself a new one. Maybe he’s better suited to eternal sleep than this wakeful pretense at living.

Taka and Sumi’s corpses decay. Crows peck their eyes out. Maggots eat their flesh. Alucard walks past them daily, to and from his journey to the stream; he turns his nose the other way, when the stench of their decay tries to sneak in.

The castle is in terrible shape. He thinks, for the sake of Belmont’s and Sypha’s dolls, it’s time to clean it up. Truly clean it up, not simply the places he uses whilst ignoring those that break his heart. Taka and Sumi have left him so hollow, the war torn rooms pale in comparison.

Magic makes things easier. Alucard wonders why he hasn’t resorted to it sooner. He cleans and cleans and cleans. He arranges, assorts, polishes, replaces. He throws things out, burns others. Taka and Sumi turn to bones underneath the nightgowns he put on them.

Eventually, humans trespass on the property grounds. Alucard wards them off with a tormenting sense of foreboding: voices, magic, a shroud of bats. Visions of what awaits in front of the castle. It works most of the time. There are days Alucard must do the work himself.

He never harms anyone, but he never lets anyone trespass too close, either.

The castle looks better. He thinks it’s time to repair the Belmont hold as well, dedicated to the erasure of his people, of monsters. Taka and Sumi’s bones change color. They grow fragile. Alucard pretends not to care.

He doesn’t hate them, but their false laughter continues to ring in his ears. The sound of their arrows, their true reason for coming, still whizzes by his ear when he collects water from the stream. The thought of making dolls of them crosses his mind too often. He argues about it with fake Belmont and Sypha.

He cries. Every night.

The Belmont manor starts to look better. Alucard has made the library more accessible. He considers rebuilding the top, a construction project proving to be the most needed distraction he could have. It’s almost better than eternal sleep in a coffin. Almost.

The trespasser comes while he works on the Belmont estate. It’s late afternoon. All the usual tricks to spook them from approaching don’t work. Alucard sighs, resigning himself to do it. He’s annoyed because he’d been so engrossed in his work, the last thing he needs is to almost kill a stupid human.

But something is off the moment Alucard teleports.

The human is already on the property, having approached far too quickly. He is standing before Taka and Sumi’s impaled bones. His eyes are wide, blue, and although his mouth hangs open, it is familiar for the snarky little curve of his lip.

Familiar.

“What the hell happened here?” Trevor Belmont says, when Alucard manifests into something visible. “Teaching science no longer your thing?”

“T-Trevor.”

“I mean seriously, what did these two do to deserve this kinda treatment?”

Alucard doesn’t move. He just stands there, staring as Belmont attaches his whip, and other assortment of weapons back to his waist. He stands there, pushing down the urge to cry, sickened because after all this time of trying to forget, to move on, to get stronger, to grow immune to his human side, all it takes is the sight of Trevor fucking Belmont to remind him how achingly lonely he still is.

“And here I was,” Trevor drawls on, “wanting to say I love what you’ve done with the place. Well are you just gonna stand there– _oof_.”

Alucard crashes into the hunter, and although it feels much like hugging an unsuspecting tree trunk, he holds tightly to Trevor. His eyes wet the man’s cloak. He trembles and Trevor, seemingly having a working brain after all, slowly returns the embrace.

"Alright that’s enough, you’re startin’ to freak me out,” Trevor says, though he shows no signs of letting go. he simply stands there and holds Alucard, pats him on the back. “You alright?”

Alucard sobs. “I am now.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading! Follow me on Tumblr [@aalizazareth](https://aalizazareth.tumblr.com) for more!


	2. Chapter 2

Alucard feels absolutely ridiculous, letting Trevor see him like this — crying. But as he wipes his eyes, a good few feet away with his back to the hunter, he feels a little better, too. Crying supposedly helps with these things, but so does being near someone. Someone he knows. Someone he trusts?

That might be a stretch.

“Uh. So,” Trevor says, clearing his throat. “Remodeling?”

“Yes.” Alucard doesn’t like the hoarse note to his voice, but it can’t be helped. He looks up at the sky, inhales, and feels lighter. Perhaps he’ll fall asleep a little easier tonight, without the moisture of tears dotting his pillow. “I figured it was about time.”

Alucard turns to finally appraise Trevor who stands there looking more awkward than ever. “Where is Sypha?” he asks, suddenly searching for a wagon behind Trevor. He’s been so caught up with his emotions, he nearly forgot those two go hand in hand.

“Oh she’s uh, not here,” Trevor says. “But she says hi.”

Alucard frowns. “She didn’t come with you?”

“No.” Trevor moves toward the steps of Castlevania, clearly meaning to go inside. “You should take those stakes down, you fucking freak,” he says, halting. “Should I even ask?”

“No,” Alucard answers, going up beside him. “Come in. We can catch up inside.”

“Catch up? Christ, you sentimental now?”

Alucard scoffs. “Fuck you.”

“Eat shit, bastard,” Trevor replies.

Their eyes meet. They laugh. 

It feels good to have Trevor around. He’s the kind of perfect nuisance Alucard thinks he needs, a new distraction, other than his projects, from all the demons he doesn’t want to face. He makes them a good meal, enduring Trevor’s insults. They are surprisingly welcome — Alucard imagines they’ll banter all night.

“What the fuck is this?” Trevor says, and by the time Alucard turns around it’s too late. The hunter stands before the shelves with two dolls, looking even more disturbed than at the sight of corpses outside.

“That’s--nothing!” Alucard stammers, a hint of red brushing across his face.

“You into dolls now?” Trevor laughs. “What, do you put pins in them when you’re in a bad mood?”

Alucard stares as Trevor scoffs at his dolls, and yet more closely studies Sypha’s. 

“I was bored,” Alucard lets out with a sigh.

“No shit.” Trevor puts mini Sypha back and moves to sit at the dining table. “I knew you were a weirdo but this is a whole other level.”

Alucard serves Trevor's plate, making sure to stack it. He thinks the dolls are cute, but maybe it’s time to keep them someplace more private.

“So, you miss us?” Trevor grunts.

“I did,” Alucard admits, placing Trevor’s steaming food on the table, and turning his back to fill his own plate. He doesn’t know why he is being so accommodating. “As soon as you two left, actually.”

“Ugh. I might barf.”

“Just don’t do it on your food,” Alucard says with a smile. 

“Yeah.” Trevor takes a whiff, and seems pleasantly surprised. “Thanks.”

They eat and there is hardly a moment of silence. Trevor tells him some of the things he’s been up to, Alucard does too. They both seem to omit the more unsavory parts. Dinner is finished, and they go through two bottles of wine.

“So, where to next?” Alucard asks hesitantly.

“Dunno yet.” Trevor sighs, looking thoughtfully at the candlelight dancing on the wooden table. He frowns, hit with what seems like a belated thought. “I can, uh, get out of your hair if you want—”

“No,” Alucard interrupts a bit too quickly. A bit desperately. He reels himself in. “I mean … you’re welcome to stay … if you wish. The rooms go unused. Unless you’d be more comfortable in your family library.”

“I wouldn’t mind a bed,” Trevor says. He gives Alucard a sideways look. “I was thinking I’d stay a few days, actually. Figure out my next move.”

“You’re not here to try and kill me, are you?” Alucard says dryly.

The expression on Trevor’s face is so blank, Alucard laughs, then takes a long sip of wine.

“Syph wouldn’t let me hear the end of it,” Trevor says. “Much as I hate your pretty face, no. It’s not why I’m here.”

“Why are you here, then?”

Trevor refills his wine glass and chugs it like the brute he is. “I’ll be out of your hair in a few days. I’m not interested in decorating the front of this place like the two out there.” Alucard pushes his own wine glass away, lowering his hands to his lap. “Yeah. Figured that’s what happened. They must not have known what kinda shit they were getting themselves into when they came knocking.”

“They should have,” Alucard says bitterly, and his chest begins aching. “It could have been prevented.”

Trevor arches a brow. “Who did you say they were again?”

“I didn’t,” Alucard snaps. His eyes feel bright and suddenly, Trevor swims before him. “They’re no one.”

“Uh huh.” Trevor keeps drinking. Like he doesn’t care. Like he’s resigned. “Crying over no one seems pretty stupid.”

“You’re stupid. Asshole.”

“Dumb crying-face asshat,” Trevor throws right back. He meets Alucard’s eye, offers a soft smile. The kind that says he won’t budge if Alucard sobs again. He’ll complain, perhaps, but he won’t budge.

“I’m glad you’re here.” Alucard blinks and the stubborn crystal fall free.

“Yeah.” Trevor hands him a napkin. “Me too. But if you don’t get a grip I’m leaving.”

Alucard laughs softly at that, and dabs his cheeks.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading! Follow me on Tumblr [@aalizazareth](https://aalizazareth.tumblr.com) for more!


	3. Chapter 3

Sleep evades Alucard that night but he doesn’t mind. With Trevor’s unexpected arrival there are conversations to replay in his mind and things to chuckle about as he lies alone in the dark. He can hardly wait for morning to come. When it does, Alucard dresses for the day and goes to Trevor’s room, expecting to find the door closed.

He has every intention to knock until he gets there and sees the door is thrown ajar. Alucard stops and glances down the hall. A few days, Trevor said. Not one night. Could he already be gone?

He quickly makes his way outside, ignoring the pit forming in his stomach. He shouldn’t be so disappointed when only Taka and Sumi’s bones meet him out front. A few days. Has Trevor forgotten what that actually means? Why would he leave without saying goodbye?

Alucard starts on the path leading away from Castlevania and then halts. He wonders if this is a trap. Reluctantly, he summons his sword to him. It flies out of the castle, the hilt landing in his outstretched palm. He doesn’t believe Trevor has come here to kill him. But one can never be certain. Taka and Sumi made sure of that.

The path is just opening up to the woods when Alucard sees Trevor’s frame standing there. Looking listlessly ahead. Sighing.

“Waiting for something?” Alucard asks softly.

Trevor jumps with startlement. “Jesus fucking Christ,” he snaps, looking reproachfully over his shoulder. The sad expression is gone, replaced with frustration, embarrassment, all things that melt quickly enough. “If you’re gonna sneak up on me with a sword just fucking kill me already.”

Alucard looks helplessly at the weapon in hands. “I thought you were gone,” he admits, too easily.

Trevor only grunts. Alucard comes up to stand beside him and they watch the road in silence for a few moments longer.

“What are you looking for?” Alucard asks.

“I don’t even know.” Trevor shakes his head and scoffs. “Just gettin’ some air. What are you doing up so early?”

“Couldn’t sleep.” His blade digs lightly into the ground between his boots. He looks at Trevor. “Would you like to spar?”

Trevor chuckles. “Think I might be at a disadvantage here.”

“Trevor Belmont,” Alucard gasps. “Finally accepting how inferior he is?”

“Fuck you. No,” Trevor says. “Left my weapons back in the room is what I mean.”

“Oh.” Alucard hadn’t noticed. Strange. Trevor never goes anywhere unarmed. But he hardly even carries his whip. “Maybe after breakfast?”

Trevor meets his eye, trying to figure something out. Alucard thinks he’s failed to make his tone a little less hopeful yet again.

“Alright,” Trevor says. “But no cheating.”

“What, are you scared?”

“You wish. Come on,” Trevor says, leading the way back. “Nothing left to wait for out here.”

Alucard doesn’t understand, but he follows gladly. They have breakfast together, then spar out back. Trevor’s gotten better at the whip. He's faster than the average human, yet remains slower than Alucard, who doesn’t use too much magic.

When they finish and bicker over who won, Trevor offers to go hunt for them. Alucard drops from his hovering before Belmont, opting to go back to his construction. He deliberately slows his body’s regeneration, aware of the places Trevor landed his blows.

Over supper that evening, he notices Sypha’s doll is missing from the shelf.

“What happened to Sypha?” Alucard asks, chewing slowly.

“I don’t wanna talk about it,” Trevor says.

Alucard frowns until the blue eyes are his. “I see you’re still odd as ever.”

“Fuck off Alucard.”

“I’m serious,” he says. “Just last night you took the mickey out of me. What have you done with her?”

“I said I don’t want to talk about it,” Trevor growls, slamming the table. “Back off.”

Alucard’s heart quickens. He wonders why. Trevor’s anger, and dislike of Alucard, is nothing new. And yet Alucard wants to make something right, somehow, without even knowing what he’s done wrong.

“I… It’s just a stupid doll, anyway… Forgive me.”

“Oh. That.” At that moment, Trevor’s demeanor turns inside out. He looks toward the shelf, embarrassed, and surprised all at once. Color even starts on his face, surprisingly fetching. “Ah, right. You mean the doll… I must have knocked it down by accident somewhere. I’ll look for it.”

“What did you think I meant?” Aucard asks, and silence is his answer. “Trevor, where is Sypha?”

“Well she’s not here, is she?”

“Don’t be a child, Belmont.”

“Then, shut up and get off my back.”

Alucard sighs, reaches for his wine glass, and downs it. “Alright,” he says. “I'll leave you be. Will you do one thing in return?”

“Depends on the thing,” the man grunts.

“In a few days time, when you’re ready to leave,” Alucard says, “just … give me a heads up.”

“Why wouldn’t I do that?” Trevor asks.

The bemusement on his face makes Alucard smile. “Just saying.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading! Follow me on Tumblr [@aalizazareth](https://aalizazareth.tumblr.com) for more!


	4. Chapter 4

Alucard doesn’t know what to make of Trevor’s little morning ritual. Belmont stands out on the road every day, early in the morning, and looks on as though waiting for something, before returning to Castlevania.

There’s something lonesome about the hunter. Alucard chooses not to comment on it.

Sypha’s doll is still missing from the shelf. Alucard wants to remove Trevor’s, but he never gets around to it. 

He manages to enlist Trevor’s help with the construction. They spend a hot afternoon working. Trevor removes his shirt at some point and complains that he didn’t come here to be put to work.

“Well, I still don’t know why you came,” Alucard replies. “But that’s alright. I can manage from here if you’d like to take a break.”

“No, I’m good.” Sweat pour down Trevor’s shoulder blades. His back is as defined as his front. He is a big, burly human. “Why did you start fixing this up, anyway?”

“I needed something to do,” Alucard says. “Between hunting fish and cooking for one I was losing my mind.”

“Yeah. Know something about that.”

“You can cook?” Alucard mocks. “Why have you been letting me do all the hard work?”

“Not that, asshole,” Trevor huffs. “I mean the going crazy thing.”

Alucard remains silent, hoping it will give Trevor a chance to elaborate. The tactic works.

“When we had Dracula to take down,” Trevor says, “every minute was something new. There was a goal. And we did it, somehow.”

“Surely you’ve had more interesting escapades with Sypha since.”

“The road didn’t disappoint,” Trevor says. A small smile creeps into his eyes while he hammers a nail. “She came up with this name for us: Belnades and Belmont. Called me her brain-dead idiot servant.”

“Accurate enough.”

“Fuck you,” Trevor laughs. “We’ve seen a lot. There is a lot more out there left to send back to hell. By the way, your mom and dad are both down there.”

Alucard stops what he’s doing to level Trevor with a surprised stare that soon turns cold. “I beg your pardon?”

“I saw them with my own eyes. Through a portal.” Trevor grunts, casually lifting a stack of timber logs. “They are in deep, deep hell. But at least they’re together.”

Alucard needs a moment to sit down and process. He doesn’t know what to make of this new piece of information, nor the casual way Trevor relays it. There is also a disquieting hint of sadness in the hunter’s tone at the last of his words.

“My mother was burned at the stake after she was falsely accused of witchcraft,” Alucard recounts sadly. “And my father, I killed with you and Sypha’s help. But somehow, hell is the last place I thought they would end up.”

“We’re headed there ourselves,” Trevor says. “Imagine that. An eternity stuck seeing your face.”

“Why would you be going to hell?” Alucard asks with a frown. “Aside from being a generally terrible human.”

“Hey!” Trevor protests. “Alright, you know what? This is the last day I’m helping you on this project.”

“It’s your family estate.”

“That I bequeathed you,” Trevor points out. “We were excommunicated. That about sealed our fate.”

Alucard sighs, sick of religion and its implications. “I wonder who else I’ll encounter in hell, then, if I ever make it there.” 

He looks toward the front of Castlevania. Taka and Sumi’s bones stand out in the sun. Perhaps Trevor is right, and he should take those stakes down. 

“You ready for the story there?” Trevor asks, setting down his tools. He drinks from a waterskin and Alucard is fairly confident it’s beer in there and not water.

“It’s not a happy story,” Alucard says.

“No shit, asshole.” Trevor sits down next to him. “Come on, spill. I don’t want to sit through another one of your sobbing sessions.”

“I never sobbed!”

“Yeah, okay.”

Alucard huffs and contemplates what to say. How to say it in a way Trevor will understand and won’t… mock.

“They tried to kill me,” he finally says, “so I killed them first. They… they used me.”

Trevor arches a brow like he finds that hard to believe, and Alucard regrets opening up.

“It doesn’t matter anymore,” Alucard says stiffly. “They’re gone and no one should ever trespass upon this place again.”

“I mean… I trespassed,” Trevor points out.

“That’s different,” Alucard says. “I never thought I’d see you again. Despite my endless life I thought I’d seen the last of your boorishness, even if the temptation to go looking did come now and again.”

“Why didn’t you?”

“You beat me to it,” Alucard says, and he smiles sincerely at Trevor. “I almost wish you wouldn’t leave.”

“Yeah well, don’t get your hopes up with a vagrant.” Trevor sighs and looks out toward Castlevania. “Don’t be like Sypha.”

“What happened between you two, Trevor?” Alucard asks softly, after a long silence.

“She wanted something else. Something more.”

“And you didn’t?”

“I don’t know.” Trevor glances at him. “I’m still trying to figure that out. Haven’t seen her since we parted ways.”

“I’m sorry.” Alucard means it. “Knowing her, I’ve no doubt she’s alright.”

“Yeah,” Trevor laughs. “Nah. She’s fine. She never needed me. She always thought you were nicer, anyway.”

“I see,” Alucard breathes deeply. He understands now. “That’s why you came here.”

And it’s the reason Trevor stands expectantly out on the road every day, waiting, perhaps, for Sypha to come back.

Alucard puts a hand on Trevor’s shoulders and squeezes. The hunter lowers his gaze but he doesn’t shrug off the touch.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading! Follow me on Tumblr [@aalizazareth](https://aalizazareth.tumblr.com) for more!


	5. Chapter 5

When sleep finally claims him, Alucard dreams about Taka and Sumi. Nightmares, more like. Their faces hover above his own as they enter his room, and he is too terrified by the thought of what he knows will happen next to speak. He is forced to watch as his sword cuts them down, because when it comes to kill or get killed, a baser instinct for self-preservation kicks in.

Alucard awakes the following morning to a disquieting sight in his room. The curtains are torn to shreds. His sword is beside his bed, entangled with destroyed fabric. He frowns as he rises and puts it away.

It smells like grilling in the kitchen, pleasant and enticing. Trevor stands over the stove, which he has managed to learn how to work — and he’s making—

“Morning. Care for some eggs?” Trevor says.

Alucard comes up to look over the hunter’s shoulders. Four small suns stare back up at him in the skillet, and the smell is wonderful. 

“I didn’t know you could cook,” Alucard says, looking at Trevor. “I’d love some.”

“Couple more minutes,” Trevor says. He whistles a tune, which is strange, though a good mood suits him well. “How did you sleep?”

“Terrible,” Alucard admits, before he registers that Trevor is asking after him. Color creeps along his ears. “I had nightmares all the way through. And my sword. I think I may have inadvertently set off the magic mechanism last night.”

“So what, you were sword fighting in your sleep?”

Alucard frowns. He has no idea what he was doing, but he’s going to need to replace the curtains. “I’ll need to secure it,” he replies. “Some place it can’t fly out on its own.”

“Well, what if you need it?” Trevor puts a plate of eggs and sausage in front of Alucard. “Won’t it be harder to summon if it’s locked up?”

It’s a great point.

“I suppose I’ll need to figure that out.” The food looks remarkable. Alucard’s mouth actually waters. “Thank you for making this.”

“Found a nest up the road,” Trevor says, as he comes around with his own plate. “Kinda just raided it. I’ve been missing bread lately, too.”

“Have you?” Alucard cuts and devours his food. “I am sure there is flour somewhere. I could make it, if you really wanted.”

“You can’t make bread,” Trevor scoffs.

“It can’t be that hard,” Alucard insists. He’s never done it, but he understands the process. And he does have an oven, far more advanced than whatever the great bakers of Wallachia use. “Tomorrow, I’ll give it a shot.”

“How are the eggs?”

Alucard thinks they’re delicious. “Need a bit of salt.”

“Fuck you,” Trevor says, and they laugh.

The afternoon is spent in construction of the Belmont estate. Alucard goes hunting later and returns with two baskets full of game for their evening meal. He is starting to enjoy their time together, to grow a little too attached to the quaint days spent with Trevor. Arguing all day, yes, but sometimes having meaningful conversations, too. Always eating together, drinking late into the night, and parting ways before bed.

He enters his vast bedroom late that evening and the moon spills more clearly inside. Alucard remembers the mess from earlier and endeavors to clean up the torn up curtains before changing into his nightwear. Trevor suggested keeping the sword in a different room rather than locked up, but Alucard puts it off for the next day.

He climbs into bed, not tired, yet unwilling to spend a sleepless night roaming Castlevania. The ghosts of his childhood, of his father and mother, occasionally meet him briefly in the hallways. When he thinks about the fact that they are in hell he becomes sadder than he already is.

Alucard closes his eyes and tries to think of something comforting. Trevor being a sore loser comes to his mind. That sullen, boyish, blue-eyed look of his; that cocky, triumphant smile when he thinks he’s won. Their teamwork as they slowly rebuild the Belmont hold. The stories they swap when they take a break to drink. All these things bring a smile to Alucard’s face. They are memories he collects, for they make not knowing when Trevor will leave a bit more bearable.

He manages to drift off to sleep. It’s peaceful at first. Alucard dreams that he is in the woods, fishing, getting water from a stream. He senses movement, hears the subtle groan of a bow being pulled taut. Taka and Sumi are back. The scene of his dream changes from the moment he discovers them, to when they come to his bedroom. The doors are closed when they enter, half-naked, heading for his bed.

Only, Taka and Sumi don’t really exist anymore. It’s Trevor who really enters Alucard’s room. Who comes closer to the bed to drunkenly ask a question, because it hasn't been so long since they said good night. It’s Trevor who sees him twist and turn, sweat beading his pale forehead as visions of Taka and Sumi’s actions flood his mind.

It’s Trevor who gets cut down by the reactive, volatile sword.

Something warm and strangely alluring sprays over Alucard's nightgown. There is a choked, gurgling sound. Alucard’s eyes fly open. Blood, all over his tunic, continues to spurt from nearby. He looks over and gasps, as Belmont sits wide-eyed and impaled beside him, and slowly lurches forward.

“N-NO,” Alucard screams.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading! Follow me on Tumblr [@aalizazareth](https://aalizazareth.tumblr.com) for more!


	6. Chapter 6

The sword has gone into Trevor’s side. Alucard shakes, eyes wide when he sees it has impaled the hunter and juts out over his back.

“No, no, no…” Alucard murmurs, carefully removing the sword.

Trevor groans and he vomits a mouthful of blood. “What the fuck…” he says, tightly gripping Alucard’s arm.

“No, no Trevor… What are you doing? Why — Why did you come here tonight?”

Alucard repositions Trevor at lightning speed and tears his tunic open to assess the exact location of the injury. 

Trevor groans like a wounded animal. He tries to speak but only blood comes out.

“Stay still,” Alucard stresses, trying to focus, realizing with horror he’s forgotten everything about healing injuries. Yet if he doesn’t act, Trevor is going to lose even more blood and die.

“You… bastard,” Trevor gasps, a hand over his injury.

“I didn’t mean to, I— the sword…” Alucard grinds his teeth, forcing himself to think. “Don’t move. I’ll need magic for this,” he says, and finally thinks of one way to stop the bleeding with pressure on one side of the injury.

He assesses the other side with newfound focus, trying to discern if any vital organs have been punctured. He relocates Trevor to the dining table in a blur of speed, throws everything off it in one swift move, and resorts to performing a frantic yet precise form of surgery.

When Trevor passes out, Alucard forces his hands to remain steady. It takes a lot for a man like Trevor Belmont to grow unconscious from blood loss. Alucard can’t even think about how it all happened. He is haunted by Taka and Sumi but never would he have expected his post-traumatic stress to manifest in such a horrific way.

By the time Trevor is stitched up and infused with fluids that will replenish him next few hours, Alucard lowers into a chair and covers his face in his hands. Trevor’s blood smears his defined features and although he hasn’t cried in days, the tears come. He hates himself in the moment, hates that he feels like he’s unraveling, perhaps becoming even too dangerous to have a friend around.

Again he wonders why Trevor sought him out, even if it no longer matters. The last son of Belmont looks pale where he lies. Alucard rises, washes the blood from his hands, and relocates Trevor back to the room the man occupied upon his arrival.

He tries to make Trevor comfortable, in a change of clothes, in a lying down position that won’t strain his numerous large stitches. Alucard stays by his side until morning. Trevor breaks into a fever, and Alucard tends to him relentlessly.

It’s late afternoon. The sun casts orange rays into the room when Alucard sees something just under a pillow. He almost cries again as Sypha’s doll is finally discovered in Trevor’s room.

“You foolish man,” Alucard sighs, prying out the doll and propping it on the nightstand where Trevor will see it when he wakes up.

He has been endeavoring to keep the hunter at least somewhat hydrated and fed, but Alucard realizes it’s been at the risk of ignoring his own needs. He eventually takes a small break, but soon finds he has no appetite, and he can’t bear the thought of leaving Trevor alone.

The moon is high in the sky by the time the hunter stirs with a groan. His eyes and tongue seem heavy, no doubt from the pain medication Alucard administered him to ease his suffering and help with the fever which has now broken. 

“Slow down,” Alucard says, gently helping Trevor into sitting. He is full of worry. “How are you feeling?”

Trevor doesn’t respond at first. He frowns at his bare chest and the bindings there. Then, he seems to remember. “You fucker,” Trevor growls, slow and accusing. “You tricked me and attacked me. I’m out of here.”

“No, Trevor,” Alucard gasps, trying to keep him in place. Trevor is remarkably strong for someone who’s just undergone a heavy surgery. “You don’t understand. I didn’t mean to—”

“Cut me down like those corpses out front? What, am I your next scarecrow?”

A spot of blood begins to dot Trevor’s bandages. Alucard eyeballs it worriedly, his frown deep.

“You’re going to tear your stitches,” Alucard says. “Please let me explain. My sword, I’ve been summoning it in my sleep. It was an accident, I swear to you— Trevor, wait.”

The man is on his feet and trying to get dressed. Alucard reaches out because the spot of blood is now a big smear, and Trevor looks as pale as the dhampir.

“I shouldn’t have come here,” Trevor says. “Asking for beer is what gets me stabbed. Serves me right for thinking you had changed.” The hunter is so terribly wobbly on his feet, he comes crashing almost as soon as he starts to stand.

Alucard is by his side in a flash, catching him before impact. “Stop for one moment,” Alucard says. “I patched you up, and I won’t let you waste all of my hard work. Can’t you see I went through all this trouble because I wasn’t intentionally trying to kill you? When are you going to get it through your head, you idiot Belmont? Come back to bed.”

He helps a reluctant — and admittedly slightly out of it Trevor — back into bed and frowns at him.

“You can’t be trusted,” Trevor murmurs with a glare.

It feels like Alucard is the one who has been stabbed. He doesn't know if Trevor means that, or if it's the dosage of medication talking.

“Be that as it may,” Alucard says, “you are injured. You wouldn’t get very far if you left tonight, so… stay, at least until your wound heals. Then you can go and never look back.”

Trevor does not reply. He doesn’t look at Alucard for the rest of the night.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading! Follow me on Tumblr [@aalizazareth](https://aalizazareth.tumblr.com) for more!


	7. Chapter 7

He keeps the sword in a locked case. It’s not ideal, but if Alucard really needs it, he can manipulate the glass into breaking. He doesn’t go to his room, where Trevor’s blood has dried out on his sheets.

In fact, Alucard barely leaves Trevor’s side, if not to procure them food or water. The next time Trevor comes to, the hunter is a bit less disgruntled. He eats the food Alucard presents him with one hand, but when it seems too troublesome to move, Alucard helps bring the food to his mouth.

Trevor sleeps easier. Alucard can’t trust his slumber, so he stays awake beside the hunter. He reads, or medidates. When Trevor invariably needs a bath and complains of itchy stitches, Alucard helps him.

“Enough?” he says one morning, while helping Trevor with his vegetable broth. Alucard made it thick for the nutrients and restorative properties.

“Yes. Water?”

Alucard fetches the glass and fills it up. Trevor drinks on his own then leans back into his pillows. Alucard feels him staring.

“What happened that night?” Trevor asks.

“I already told you,” Alucard says. “My sword has been conjured while I rest. The dreams trigger it, I think. It’s locked up now. It can’t hurt you anymore.”

“That’s not what I mean,” Trevor says. “I get it. It was an accident. But the Adrian I know has a lot more self control than a volatile sword attacking his guests while he sleeps.”

Alucard is taken aback by the sound of his true name on Trevor’s tongue. Immediately, he wants to hear it again, though the desire is dulled by the fact that there is no escaping the real reason why Trevor is in bandages with a few more days of recovery for him to even move properly.

“Their names were Taka and Sumi,” Alucard says, looking at a point beyond Trevor and fixing his gaze there. “They had been tailing me for a day before I came across them in the forest. They came from a vampire’s court in Japan — one of my father’s generals. I should have known they were more interested in moving the castle than… learning to defend themselves from vampires.

“It was about a month after you and Sypha left. I… I missed the two of you. Desperately.” Alucard laughs softly, remembering how alone he’d felt, how Taka and Sumi filled the void and then ripped it apart.

“They were very curious about magic. I told them my father never relied on magical artifacts. They thought I was lying to them,” Alucard says. “One night, they came into my chambers, undressed the three of us, and we began what I thought would be a physical relationship. I could not have been more wrong.”

Trevor frowns at Alucard. “They tried to kill you.”

“They restrained me when I was at my most vulnerable, with silver. I summoned the sword as a last resort,” Alucard says. “They were dead within moments.” He meets Trevor’s eye. “I don’t make it a habit to lie, Trevor. It has never served me. After all we have been through, I would never deliberately hurt you. Though, I can understand if you no longer trust me. After all, how different am I from my father these days?”

“Well, you’re not in hell yet,” Trevor says.

Alucard scoffs. “I am sorry for the injury, Trevor.”

“You should be, asshole,” Trevor replies. “But… I get it now. Those two messed you up.”

“No kidding.”

“You should take the stakes down, though. Do you really need the constant reminder?”

“Yes,” Alucard hisses, his fangs extending. “I need to remember never to trust so easily again, never to let anyone near, to… to…”

“To remember you’re still half human in there?”

Alucard blinks at Trevor.

“Look, you weirdo,” Trevor says. “I didn’t sit through all of your crying for you to take steps backwards, alright? Either you move on, or I will.”

“How are you to do that when you’re still lovesick over Sypha?” Alucard retorts, somewhat wounded.

“Don’t make this about me—”

“I’ve seen the way you stand out there waiting for a wagon of Speakers to turn up—” 

“Shut up—”

“She’s not coming back, Trevor. And you shouldn’t have come here searching for her, either.”

“Alright, get out.”

Alucard frowns. “I beg your pardon?”

“Get the fuck out of my face. Go build or something. You’re obviously too pissy to talk right now or see common sense, and I’m actually glad I won’t be doing any back breaking work for today. So just, go. I need a nap anyway.”

Alucard stares at the emptied bowls of food and cup, feeling ridiculous all of a sudden. “I… I’ll stay. In case you need something.”

“I’ll be fine, just go. Walk past your stakes, think about what I said.”

“Trevor…”

Belmont closes his eyes and begins to fake snore, ignoring Alucard. It’s all so ridiculous, the dhampir chuckles. Soon, Trevor is not the only one in stitches. The hunter peeks and eye open and laughs along, though he groans, too.

“Don’t hurt yourself,” Alucard says as he rises.

“Yeah, yeah. I want fish for lunch.”

Alucard shakes his head at the petulant man. He can’t say he’s not endeared, despite their previous conversation. “I’ll see to it,” he promises.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading! Follow me on Tumblr [@aalizazareth](https://aalizazareth.tumblr.com) for more!


	8. Chapter 8

Trevor starts to look much better after a few days. Alucard tries his best to keep tending to him as much as possible, even inventing reasons for why Trevor should remain in bed just one more day. But it becomes obvious, when Trevor walks out of the room one morning and finds Alucard returning from the stream, that the hunter is well on his way to being perfectly fine.

“Good morning,” Alucard says, striding past Taka’s and Sumi’s corpses. He has given a lot of thought to what Trevor said and finds that he agrees somewhat with the hunter. “I see today will be your last day here.”

“Why are these two still here?” Trevor says, jutting his chin toward the stakes.

“I haven’t had time to do anything about them,” Alucard replies, walking up to Trevor. “What with looking after you and all. How are you feeling?”

“Hungry.” Trevor glances at the baskets and hopes to find something within. “But good. The scars still itch and are sore but I’m okay.” He twists his head to one side and then another, making the bones pop rather audibly.

Alucard grins at the display. “And what would my boorish hunter like for breakfast?” he asks. “If it’s your last one here, make it something good.” He pretends to be fine with the knowledge that Trevor can now just walk out and leave, that he probably will, because he has no need for Alucard any longer. 

“Remember me saying I’d been craving bread?”

“Oh yes,” Alucard replies with a nod. “Come with me. There’s something I’d like to show you.”

In the kitchen, the dough from the previous night has perfectly risen. Alucard relocates it to the oven while Trevor watches, in a loose tunic and trousers, and seems skeptical about the whole thing. In time, when the warm aroma of baking fills their nostrils, the hunter comes up to briefly rest his chin on Alucard’s shoulder.

“How much longer?” Trevor asks.

“You are like a very big hungry child,” Alucard replies.

“Fuck you. I’m hangry,” Trevor says.

“Please don’t make up words.” Alucard shrugs him off lightly and Trevor goes to stand at one corner to cross his arms, while Alucard checks the bread. A fingernail sharply extends and pokes into the center of the massive loaf. “Almost done,” Alucard assures Trevor and returns to fixing up the rest of their breakfast.

“You were right, by the way,” Trevor says.

“About?”

“The Sypha thing. I don’t think she’s coming back. Not anytime soon.”

Alucard looks over to him with empathetic amber eyes. “I am sorry Trevor,” he murmurs, “I wish nothing but for the two of you to reunite one day if possible.”

“If possible,” Trevor agrees. “Truth is I think she’s better off without me. Just haven’t been willing to admit it.”

“Then, what will you do?” Alucard asks, hiding the hope in his tone. “You’ve been alone long enough to have gotten used to it, but it can’t be pleasant to return to such a state, knowing what you had with Sypha.”

“I don’t know,” Trevor admits. “Get back on the road. Send some beasties back to hell. The usual Belmont stuff, until I die anyway.”

Alucard gives him a few subtle nods of understanding. The bread is ready. As Alucard makes for it in the oven, Trevor speaks up.

“I’ll leave tonight,” he says.

Alucard drops the baking pan back into the oven and pulls his hand away with a hiss. Fire has never bothered him before but as he looks at his open palms, they are marked red where he touched the pan.

“You alright?” Trevor asks.

“Yes,” Alucard says with a forced smile. “Just need mittens. Come on. Breakfast is ready.”

Afterwards, he decides to spend the afternoon working on the Belmont castle, expecting at any time to see Trevor on his way. The sun hangs high in the sky. Alucard takes a break and looks toward Castlevania. A feeling spurs him onward and he goes toward Taka and Sumi, taking them down in a flash.

Their bones pile on the floor. Alucard takes the stakes down and he sighs. Enough is enough.

“Finally.” Trevor is leaning against a nearby pillar at the castle entrance with his arms crossed on his chest. “I wasn’t sure how much longer I was going to have to wait.”

“I should bury them,” Alucard replies. He feels nothing this time, save for the sadness in knowing Trevor will leave soon.

“Alright. I’ll help you,” Trevor says.

“You will?” Alucard frowns.

Trevor steps forward and although he makes a sour face, he begins by collecting Sumi’s bones. Alucard does the same for Taka. They each have a shovel and dig into the grounds behind the fortress.

By the time they finish their hard work the sun has moved across the sky and a line of sweat runs down Trevor’s chest.

“Well, now that we’ve done that,” Trevor says, “I suppose I should tell you something else.”

Alucard comes to sit beside him and stares out toward the forest, waiting, not sure he wants to hear what’s coming, not sure how to cope with the eternal loneliness that awaits him once Trevor leaves.

“I’ve decided to stay,” Trevor says. “If you’ll have me.”

“What?” Alucard spins his head quickly.

Trevor looks embarrassed. “Well. I figured, you know, you got your house, I got my house. We don’t need to bother each other that much. I mean it’s really nice to sleep on a bed.”

“Trevor,” Alucard says. “Are you sure? I mean of course you can stay, there is nothing I would like more, but… why the change of heart?”

Trevor looks toward Alucard and extends his hand. It lands, calloused yet gentle, on Alucard’s cheek. “Sypha wouldn’t want you to be by yourself,” he says. “I realized neither do I.”

Alucard tries to prevent himself from melting into that touch. He tries, and he fails, and so he moves forward to climb into Trevor’s lap. Their lips seem to meet all too eagerly.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading! Follow me on Tumblr [@aalizazareth](https://aalizazareth.tumblr.com) for more!


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